I know why the caged bird sings

she soars and she sighs

through the marble halls it rings

between the light from sunrise

she spies shadowy things

still her voice gently flies

her feathers are all dull

her time is past nigh

yet the rooms are still full

white gold creases the sky

then fades to black null

it weeps at her cry

little bird long gone

her bones cradled in ivy

but her song carries on

one’s time is never timely

but from the gable to the lawn

her voice continues blithely

though to her it was just a coo

from the courtyard it rang

and into the wind it flew

up from her body a tempest sprang

every hour the sound rattles someplace new

i know why the caged bird sang